Yorkshire Creamery Co.

In the Matter of YORKSHIRE CREAMERY COMPANY and UNITED PACKINGHOUSE WORKERS OF AMERICA, LOCAL #1 (C. I. 0.) Case No. R-2774.Decided August 28, 1941 Jurisdiction : creamery industry. Investigation and Certification of Representatives : existence of question: re- fusal to accord union recognition ; election necessary. Unit Appropriate for Collective Bargaining : all employees of the Company, ex- cluding foremen and others in a supervisory capacity ; agreement as to. Mr. George F. Heindel and Mr. Edward J. Grier, of Ottumwa, Iowa, for the Company. Mr. Thomas B. Hadden, of Ottumwa, Iowa, for the C. I. O. Mr. William H. Bartley, of counsel to the Board. - DECISION AND DIRECTION-OF ELECTION I STATEMENT OF THE CASE On June 27, 1941, United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local #1 (C. I. 0.), herein called the C. I. 0., filed with the Re- gional Director for the Eighteenth Region (Minneapolis, Minne- sota) and amended petition' alleging that a question affecting commerce had arisen concerning the representation of employees of Yorkshire Creamery Company, Ottumwa, Iowa, herein called the Company, and requesting an investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act, 49 Stat. 449, herein called the Act. On July 10, 1941, the National Labor Relations Board, herein called the Board, acting pursuant to Section 9 (c) of the Act and Article III, Sec-, Lion 3, of National Labor Relations Board Rules and Regulations- Series 2, as amended, ordered an investigation and authorized the Regional Director to conduct it and to provide for an appropriate hearing upon due notice. - 1 The original petition was filed on May 21 , 1941, naming the employer as John Morrell & Company. Yorkshire Creamery Company is a subsidiary of John Morrell & Company. 35 N. L. R. B., No. 8. 30 - YORKSHIRE CREAMERY COMPANY 31 On July 15, 1941, the Regional Director issued a notice of hearing, copies of which were served upon the Company and the C. I. O. ,Pursuant to notice a hearing was held at Ottumwa, Iowa, on July 22, 1941, before Guy Farmer, the Trial Examiner duly designated by the Chief Trial Examiner. The Company was represented by counsel and the C. I. O. by the president of Local #1; both participated in the hearing. During the course of the hearing the Trial Examiner made several rulings on motions and on objections to the admission of evidence. The Board has reviewed the rulings of the Trial Exam- iner and finds that no prejudicial errors were committed. The rulings are hereby affirmed. Upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: FINDINGS OF FACT 1. THE BUSINESS OF THE COMPANY Yorkshire Creamery Company, a Maine corporation, is-engaged in the operation of a creamery in Ottumwa, Iowa, where its office and principal place of business are located. The Company also operates branch creameries at Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Bruce, Mississippi, Bethany, Missouri, and buying stations at various.points in Iowa. The plant involved herein is the main plant at Ottumwa, Iowa. During the fiscal, year ending November 2, 1940, the Com- pany purchased over 1,000,000 pounds of milk and cream, at a cost of approximately $260,000, all within the State of Iowa. During the same period the Company, manufactured and sold butter valued at more than $350,000, all of which sales were made to John Morrell & Company, Ottumwa, Iowa, which in turn sold and distributed 90 per cent of the butter to points outside the State of Iowa. The Company admits that it is engaged in commerce within the meaning of the Act. II. THE ORGANIZATION INVOLVED United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local #1, is a labor organization affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organizations, admitting to membership employees of the Company. III. THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION Shortly before the filing of the petition herein, the C. I. O. re- quested recognition from the Company as the exclusive representa- tive of its employees. The Company refused to grant recognition until the C. I. O. had been certified as such representative by the Board. A statement of the Regional Director introduced into evi- 32 DECISIONS OF NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD dence shows that the C. I. 0. represents a substantial number of employees in the unit hereinafter found to be appropriate? We find that a question has arisen concerning the representation of employees of the Company. IV. THE EFFECT OF THE QUESTION CONCERNING REPRESENTATION UPON COMMERCE We find that the question concerning representation which has arisen, occurring in connection with the operations of the Company described in Section I above, has a close, intimate, and substantial relation to trade, traffic, and commerce among the several States and tends to lead to labor disputes burdening and obstructing commerce and the free flow of commerce. V. THE APPROPRIATE UNIT The Company and the C. I. 0. agreed, and we find, that all em- ployees, excluding foremen and others in a supervisory capacity, and office and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.3 We further find that such unit will insure to employees of the Company the full benefit of their right to self-organization and to collective bargaining and otherwise effectuate the policies of the. Act. VI. THE DETERMINATION OF REPRESENTATIVES We find that the question which has arisen concerning the repre- sentation of employees in the unit which we have found to -be appropriate can best be resolved by an election by secret ballot. The C. I. 0. requests that the pay roll for the period ending July 2, 1941, be used to determine eligibility to vote in the election, but assigns no reasons for this request. In accordance with our usual practice, we shall direct that the employees eligibile to vote shall be those employees in the appropriate unit who were employed during the pay-roll period immediately preceding the date of the Direction of Election herein, subject to such limitations and addi-, tions as are set forth in the Direction. Upon the basis of the above findings of fact and upon the entire record in the case, the Board makes the following: 2 The Regional Director's statement shows that 14 employees whose names appear on the Company's pay roll of June 17 , 1941, signed application cards in the C. I. O. between May 9 and 19, 1941 . There were 16 employees on the June 17 pay roll. 3 The Company at first objected to the inclusion of truck drivers in the unit but later withdrew this objection. YORKSHIRE CREAMERY COMPANY ' 33 CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. A question affecting commerce has arisen concerning the rep- resentation of employees of Yorkshire Creamery Company, Ottumwa, Iowa, within the meaning of Section 9 (c) and Section 2 (6) and (7) of the National Labor Relations Act. 2. All employees in the Ottumwa, Iowa, plant of the Company, • excluding foremen and others in a supervisory capacity, and office and clerical employees, constitute a unit appropriate for the pur- poses of collective bargaining within the meaning of Section 9, (b) of the National Labor Relations Act. DIRECTION OF ELECTION By virtue of and pursuant to the power vested in the National Labor Relations Board by Section 9 (c) of the National Labor Relations Act and Article III, Section 8, of National Labor Rela- tions Board Rules and Regulations-Series 2, as amended, it is hereby I DIRECTED that, as part of the investigation authorized by the Board to ascertain representatives for the purposes of collective bargain- ing with Yorkshire Creamery Company, Ottumwa, Iowa, an election by secret ballot shall be conducted as early as possible, but not later than thirty (30) days from the date of this Direction, under the direc- tion and supervision of the Regional Director for the Eighteenth Region, acting in this matter as agent for the National Labor Rela- tions Board and subject to Article III, Section 9, of said Rules and Regulations, among all employees in the Ottumwa, Iowa, plant of the Company whose names appear on the pay roll for the period immediately preceding the date of this Direction of Election, in- cluding employees who did not work during such pay-roll period because they were ill or on vacation or in the active military service or training of the United States, or temporarily laid off, but ex- cluding foremen and others in a supervisory capacity, and office and clerical employees, and employees who have since quit or been discharged for cause, to determine whether or not they desire to be represented by United Packinghouse Workers of America, Local #1 (C. I. 0.) for the purposes of collective bargaining.